I was drawn to Mocha seven months ago when, as an eight-week-old kitten, she enchanted me with her sweet and seemingly placid nature. I felt that behind her curious eyes, was a wise old soul. And her voice matched her appearance. Even now, I have never heard a cat’s meow sound so sweet. It is high-pitched and at times, barely audible - especially when in unison with her much louder sister, Kahlua.

I quickly learned of Mocha’s intelligence. A recent example of this is when I saw her enjoying a relatively large bone, in her own feline way. I had given my dogs a couple of bones that day and as usual, I allowed them inside once all the meat was cleaned off. That night, I saw Mocha sitting next to an unattended bone (much too big for her to carry or chew on), patiently using her paw to dig out the remaining marrow. This is now a regular occurrence whenever my boys leave new bones lying around inside.

Another sign of her intelligence is how she gets into bed. I have my fur-babies sleep with me and although they usually get along very well, Merlot (a Jack Russel) can be a terrible ‘bed bully.’ He is typically settled in his spot long before the rest of us, so he can get a bit moody when he’s disturbed. When Mocha finally seeks out her place on the pillow, she gets around her ‘brother’s’ bullying tactics by jumping onto the bedside drawers first. If Merlot reacts, she will sit there patiently until he resettles, then step over to the bed to sleep at my head, without disturbing him at all.

Although they clearly love each other, she and Kahlua have very distinct personalities and are different in just about every way. When they first joined the family, I thought Mocha was going to be the ‘easy’ one but by the time they were about five months old, it was clear that this was changing. Now, it is Mocha that I have to stop from chewing through electrical cords, destroying the wall calendar and shredding the toilet paper. She also rips up the newspaper before I’ve read it, and tries to catch the water as it goes down the plughole (My theory with that is that she’s very aware of water restrictions!).

She has certainly taught me a thing or two about dealing with frustration, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sometimes, you just have to laugh. Then when the fun is over, I’ve discovered that I can send Mocha into a state of Kitty Bliss, simply by performing some feline acupressure (massaging her temples).

Author: Rae McInnes
Country: Australia
True story: Yes
Rating: 21 paws up
Vote: Vote up Vote down

Previous story: A goose which babysat ducklings | Back to story list | Next story: The Cat Came Back

Back to story list